P.S. MELLIE....Jen needs my DSs theory that everyone should get one free kill a month. Use is wisely. hahahahahaha

I agree whole heartedly about the family business. I am going to keep in touch with her grand children though whether she does or not. It hurts their feelings to see her this way. She's hurt me in the past. But I've learned to stay away from her in those cases.

I'm back at work this morning. So I really don't have time to post. Be back later after work.

MICHELLE....I WAS GLAD TO READ THAT DOPPLER IS DOING OK! I CAN'T USE THE PC AT WORK EITHER. SORRY TO HEAR 3FC IS BANNED AT YOUR JOB'S PC.

ANNIE...TOUDH DECISION FOR YOUR DS. WILL SEND BOTH OF YOU MY BESTEST & GOODEST THOUGHTS...AND A HUG YOU HAD A WEEKEND FULL OF STUFF!!! THAT'S WHY I WAS SURPRISED TO HAVE YOUR COMPANY FOR TWO DAYS


CEEJAY...GOOD THINKING. I AM SURE THE KIDS WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ONE PERSON AS A FRIEND THT DOESN'T JUDGE AND GIVE THEM LOTS OF SUPPORT! GOD FOR YOU. HOPE THIS WEEK AT WORK IS TROUBLE FREE!!

I AM DRIVING THRU TO TELL YOU THAT ONE OF JEN'S CHECKS WAS IN THE MAILBOX THIS MORNING. THE POSTMAN SAW IT, DELIVERED IT RIGHT AWAY AS HE WAS GOING BY, AND RANG MY BELL TO TELL ME...WHAT A DOLL. HE'S A CARING PERSON. JEN WILL BE THRILLED!! NOW I AM GOING BACK DOWN TO TELL THE OFFICE THEY CAN ACTUALLY CASH OUR RENT CHECKS THAT I GAVE THEM ON FRIDAY
TODAY IS TURNING OUT TO BE ANOTHER GOOD MELLIE DAY

WOW Party while you can MELLIE.....Life is too short and the mailman only rings once....lololol

Hello all. One of those days that flew by and I'm not sure how much I've actually accomplished, if anything!

I had a nice weekend. Had a hair appointment late Saturday morning and I read my book up til then. After the hair, I went to a nearby resale shop and bought some books (paperbacks 5 for a buck), a necklace, and some sewing items. After that was lunch, dog walk, some sewing stuff, tv, e-mail archiving (ugh), and that's about it.

Sunday I relaxed all morning w/ my book and the newspaper. Finally opened the box to our new bike rack and got it installed on the trunk. Very easy to use! So I put my bike on it and went for a ride on the nearest bike path. Beyooootiful day for it. Only everyone else thought so too!! Walkers, joggers, inline skaters, etc. Had to keep warning them I was passing - and loud enough to penetrate the earbuds of the many folks listening to their mp3 players!! This is a particularly popular bike path nestled in a forest preserve (Happy - it's the Busse Woods path in Schaumburg). Next time I'll drive to a different path. Hope the weather allows for several more cycling opportunities the next couple months.

Happy - Sorry your cabin got shut down early. Not fair they can do that - but will penalize you for doing it. Wow, I hope you enjoy NH. My folks went to a few places on their vacations to see if they would be good retirement spots. Not long after, my father got tired of looking and they landed in Springfield, MO. They had their criteria, but I guess being somewhat near family was low on the list, ha ha. Mom's halfway between Chicago and Dallas, so about 500 miles from family in each place. What's on your list? Hope DH's list matches yours somewhat closely...

Michelle - Sorry 3fc is blocked at work!! Glad Doppler is doing well, hope the followup appt confirms the same. Glad the tree limbs are gone - just in time for the leaves, LOL. The squirrels are having a field day w/ the acorns on our trees. Sometimes it sounds like an acorn is 50 pounds when it hits the roof or gutters, but it's not just acorns, it's a clump of leaves on a twig.

Ceejay - Better for the mom to stay out of child-rearing decisions unless specifically asked. How's your stomach?

Mel - Yay for the incoming checks and that your rent checks will be good! Sorry the weekend was a PITA. Hope the rest of the week goes well.

Shad - So you terminated your contract? You gotta do what you gotta do. Hope another assignment comes along quickly that keeps you just busy enough! LOL about getting rewarded for not killing someone during TOM!!! We definitely deserve a prize for enduring it.

Annie - Sounds like a nice weekend. Yay for being boss-less this week. Crap - I just remembered I have to schlep my laptop home again tonight. I'm going to a meeting tomorrow morning that's relatively close to home, so by the time I get back home and take the train downtown to the office, it's a waste of time (no express trains that time of day and no, I will NOT drive downtown - it's a major PITA and costs a fortune to park). So I'll work from home tomorrow afternoon. I agree with you wholeheartedly - engineers are WEIRD.

Nothing going on tonight. I'll walk the dog and do a BE workout. Dinner - who knows? Never went grocery shopping this weekend, tsk tsk. Tomorrow is that morning meeting, so I'll probably be checking in here in the afternoon. Haven't heard what the movie is for tomorrow night yet.

Okay, my desk is a giant mess. I'll post and start working on it.

I'm still at work but every one else has gone home. SIGH

My stomach is feeling a lot better. Ran a low grade temperature this week end but not sure whether or not it was my sinuses or my stomach issues. My co-worker suggested that I make an appointment with the ENT to let him check out my sinuses. I may do that. It's kinda odd that it's just my left sinus but that's the one he cauterized when I had my nose bleed.

Mel
Yeah for Jen's check and what a nice mailman to come and tell you.

Michelle
Sorry that 3fc is blocked at work. I'm suprised they haven't blocked it here. but I don't think any one know's I get on this sight. They know I get on Facebook.

Laura
I'm difinitely making plans on going to Springfield, Mo at the end of October.
I can't wait. It's really a clean city. Have you ever been there? I wanna play with the baby.

Happy
Have you thought about Springfield, MO. for a place to retire?

Shad
Sorry to hear that you terminated the job. But I'm like you I don't like to sit and do nothing at all. I have cut down a lot of my repetive stuff.

Annie
Sounds like you had a good week end. You deserved it.

Morning all,

Like the old lady in Christchurch, you gotta laugh. Yesterday I terminated our contract - and it turns out they have already closed the project anyway. I mean what - not everyone is trained yet and as far as I know all sites are not yet live, but............. I'm not upset about the terminated contract and I instigated the decision. Anyway, the man I was talking to yesterday asked me to drop my cv in to a few people which is what I did early this morning. Half an hour ago, I get a call asking me to work for the company again, on a different project. I'm not that excited about finance but I will think about it. I need to talk to my mate Mick about the work he has coming up. I'd be happy to take a couple of weeks off if I knew there was work coming up, rather than have to go back to work this week on something I'm not all that excited about. But there you have it. The world works in mysterious ways.

Ceejay - families are also things that work in mysterious ways. You have to give it to them. Some like to push their authority and some are just loving and kind. Some suck and some have talent. God gave us our relatives - thank God we can choose our friends.

Mel - I hope Richie can find some sort of a job soon. Unfortunately the market is not really good for people with little experience and/ or qualifications although they seem to think that 15 year olds should have 5 years experience in exactly the same sort of job and be prepared to earn peanuts. Stupid people.

Happy - sounds like a nice place to go visit. Can't you be like most other people and sneak across the border in the dark of night. I don't mind the s**w word - it's that other one that bothers me, cos it means the end of the year and the anniversary of a whole range of deaths and bad happening. Wish I was coming with you on that break. Hope you find some interesting places to think about for retirement. Thought of trying for Martha's Vineyard??

Annie - the pictures on facebook of your party look great. Nice to hear that you are bossless in Indie this week. Nice work.

Michelle - Good to hear about Doppler. Always good to have some good news about our wee friends.

Laura - Nice bikeride. We have some good ones over here, but due to pedestrian lack of common sense and the fact that the bikers will not slow down on common paths, they are trying to separate the two.

Right, I need to go and acknowledge that I have the doco requested for the job and that I will give it consideration and I need to get in touch with Mick and get him moving to see what he has so I can make a choice by lunchtime tomorrow.

See ya

Not feeling well this evening. Tummy has been upset for hours. Going to bed. I'll post more tomorrow.

Caught up with all your worldly happenings but I am sooooo tired. 15 more minutes and I'm heading to bed. I hope to beat DH in there so when he comes upstairs HE gets to hear my snorefest

Hopefully early to bed means early to rise and I'll have time to come up with some incredibly witty comments in the morning to you. Till then, sweet dreams to all. Including Shad who can nap while we sleep for the moment if she wished

HAPPY TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY LADIES OF THE WORLDLY SUCCOTASH!!

I AM FLYING HIGH THIS MORNING. MY OTHER GOVT CHECK WAS IN THE BANK YESTERDAY AND LAST NIGHT I SENT OUT THE BILLS ONLINE. NO LATE FEES FOR THIS CHICK AND HER CHICKLETTE THIS MONTH!
THE WEATHER THIS MONTH IS REALLY A TRUE FALL. WEIRD SKIES, FLASH RAIN STORMS WITH LOTS OF RUMBLING THUNDER, THE STRONG SMELL OF FALL LEAVES, CRISP MORNINGS AND SUNNY, WARM AFTERNOONS. JEN AND I WERE TALKING ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT BUT WONDERING IF OUR "INDIAN SUMMER" WILL COME....ONE LAST HOT SPELL.
OH WELL...ON WITH THE DAY. SPEAKING OF WHICH...I WILL BE GLAD WHEN MY LIFE IS BACK TO NORMAL BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY. THE LAST FEW WEEKS HVE TAKEN A HUGE TOLL ON THE OLD BOD AND GAVE ME LOTS OF NEW PROBLEMS. BUT I AM RESILIENT AND WILL GET RID OF ALL OF THEM!! THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
HAVE A GREAT DAY


ANNIE....HOW DID YOU KNOW THE POSTMAN ONLY RANG ONCE...WERE YOU PEEPING???


LAURA...YOUR WEEKEND SOUNDED MUY FABULOSO!!! I LOVE THIS WEATHER FOR RIDING. COOL BUT NOT TOO COLD AND GOTTA LOVE ALL THE SMELLS OUT THERE!! HOPE YOU GET MANY MORE RIDES IN!! BUT I HEAR YA ON TOO MANY PEOPLE OUT ON THE PATH...SAME HERE WITH THE SIDEWALKS!!


CEEJAY...HOPE YOU WILL BE FEELING MORE LIKE YOURSELF SOON. SORRY TO HEAR THE TUMMY AND SINUS ARE STILL BOTHERING YOU FEEL BETTER SOON!


SHAD....WOW THEY AREN'T EVEN DONE WITH THE LAST PROJECT AND THEY WANT YOU FOR A NEW ONE!! THAT'S REALLY SAYING SOMETHING FOR HOW THEY LIKE YOU! I WAS HOPINGYOU HAD SOME TIME FOR YOU AND SUNDAY BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS...OR WHATEVER YOU DECIDE...GOOD LUCK!! A NEIGHBOR TO JEN AND RICHIE UP AT THE TRAILER SENT HIM TO A FRIEND...HE SUGGESTED THAT RICHIE TRY ALL THE NEW NURSING HOMES AND REHABS IN THE AREA. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR ALL KINDS OF HELP UP THERE. IT WOULD BE NICE TOO IF THE KIDS COULD GET OUT OF THE CITY. THEY COULD USE A FRESH START WHERE NO ONE KNOWS THEM!!


MICHELLE.....HOPE THE TUMMY FEELS BETTER. SORRY YOU'RE UNDER THE WEATHER


HAPPY...I THINK I FEEL YOU BREATHING DOWN MY NECK AGAIN...I AM RUNNING LATE THIS MORNING
I WILL AWAIT WITH BAITED BREATH FOR YOUR EARLY MORNING RISING WITTY COMMENTS!!! WHO WON THE SNOREFEST????????

Happy Tuesday....waiting on the garage door man to call me so I can meet him at the house to see about fixing the spring that is broken. Have not been able to access garage since last Thursday. Oh wait, this would be MELLIE's specialty in our commune...MELLIE could you come and wait for the garage door man...I hear he is a hunk!! lol

Laura...the ride and your weekend sounded wonderful. The famous path here in Indy is the Monon Trail however all we ever here about is the joggers getting mugged on it in broad daylight by masked/hooded idiots. Won't catch me on it and besides it sounds like exercise to me.

Posted before I was ready...will start again...

Shad...everything happens for a reason...good things come to those who wait...the baby mom posted the pix on facebook, not too bad.

Ceejay...everyone here is having sinus probs, I wouldn't doubt your issues to be related to that.

Chelle...sorry you are not feeling well, my sista. Hugs, my friend.

Happy...hope you had some sweet s*xy dreams of DH....lol

MELLIE...I am physco, I mean physic that is why I knew about postman, and maybe he rings twice, something about a movie or something. Our weather is cool in the morning and a LOT warmer in the afternoon, but no humidity so it doesn't feel too bad. We are supposed to get a bit of rain today, but not much. We have only had like 1/2" since June 23rd.

Not much else happening...have a marvelous day everyone.

Much love and many hugs.

Good morning chickies.

I rushed to bed early last night. DH stayed up to watch Leno. I'm sure he had to fall asleep listening to ME snore but them's the breaks I think we both were singing to each other but softly. Feeling much more rested this morning. Good thing as it's a busy week at work.

Looks like someone bought the house next door already - man came over while DH was mowing and introduced himself. Young couple with a puppy. Yay no screaming brats I hope. They are tearing the roof off next door - I'm sure the previous owners are soooo mad they had to put all this money into the house that they will never enjoy or get back on the sales price. Beware of buying a fixer upper I say unless you are into that kind of thing...

Mel - sounds like you have great weather - except for the passing hurricane. I want to see you flirt with Annie's garage guy and find fake stuff for him to "fix" you you can get your fix of his backside You crack me up woman!

Annie - so nice of you to break the door to accomodate Mel's needs Seriously if that ain't a pain in the tush. I know there's a manual way to lift the door if the spring broke but I could never get it to work. Hope you get it fixed fast.

Laura - that's a pretty extensive bike trail - 17 miles or something I think. Can't you drive to a less used section down by the Elk or something? I know it gets pretty crowded out that way. But good for you for getting outside.

I am running late this morning so will have to catch up at lunch time. to Ceejay, Michelle and Shad. Talk to you later.

Happy Tuesday ladies -

Able to get to the 3FC site today...hope it stays this way.

I'm feeling a bit better than I did last night, but I still have a migraine that I've had for a few days. Dang thing just won't go away. And my back is a bit sore...I'll have to put my TENS unit on it later and crank it up to loosen some of the muscles.

Doppler's follow up visit went pretty well. The vet says the retina looks in really good shape. He said the eye pressure is up, which is normal after such an extensive surgery, but it's important to bring it back down ASAP, so he adjusted the meds, and wants to see him this afternoon. So after work, I'll rush home and pick Doppler up and then take him to the vet. Doppler is adjusting well to the cone and really being tolerant about all his eye drops and pills.

As for my back...it's still sore from time to time (yesterday and today especially), but I think I've gotten about 30% to 35% relief from the first series of shots. So I'm looking forward to round 2 this Friday afternoon...even if it means that I'll be really sore this weekend.

Our 10,000 steps per day challenge started yesterday, and I must've done a lot of walking to get water and go to the loo because somehow I managed to just eek out a little over 10K steps. Yay!! Hopefully I can keep it up.

Happy - Your vacation up north sounds wonderful!!! Except that the person CLOSED the cabin with reservations pending! I hope you thoroughly enjoy your new accommodations. We have two trees in our neighborhood that have just started turning their fall colors on. These two are the early ones every year. You better watch what you say missy...you almost said the forbidden holiday and mentioned the forbidden precipitation! None of that! Glad you got a good night's sleep last night and feel rested today. Nice that your new neighbor introduced himself to your DH. Hopefully the puppy isn't too barky. My doggies can be barky, but there are other dogs in the neighborhood that bark a lot more than ours do.

Ceejay - We recorded Stand Up to Cancer, but we haven't watched it yet. We really like Heart and Green Day, so we recorded it to see them. Last time I heard Neil Diamond sing...his voice sounded like it was going. I hate family drama. I'm glad your stomach is feeling better. Mine was bothering me last night, but so far it's doing better today.

Annie - Glad you enjoyed Joel and got an awesome dose of upbeat positivity. Is your "boss less" week going well? Glad you had a great time at the baby shower! The photos look great! You are beautiful as ever! It's cool in the mornings here too..I haven't given into the heater on the ride in..but I do need to use the defroster sometimes to clear the fog off the windshield.

Shad - The martini story was hilarious! I know what you mean about your favorite teams. My fave NFL teams are the Packers and whoever is playing the Chicago Bears or the Minnesota Vikings. I totally understand what you said about seeing concerts. DH and I love music, but we now just see bands that perform on the free stages at Summerfest or fairs. We have a hard time justifying spending $100+ per person for concert tickets...just a couple hours of entertainment. You are definitely rocking the gym! You and Laura are both exercise now. As for your work...they closed the project without telling you?? I hope something great turns up very soon. You are so right about the job market...it seems employers want 5-10 years experience and a master's degree and are only willing to pay minimum wage (or just barely over). It's always been my opinion that employers will get what they pay for. But then again there are a lot of high paid people in the country who do little more than take up space and suck up oxygen.

Mel - I'm glad you had some money set aside where the banks and creditors couldn't touch it. Glad to hear that Jen got a check as well. And that all the bills got paid without late fees! Sending prayers, : and keeping my fingers crossed for Richie that he will get a great job very soon. Too funny about the Seniors and the BBQ. Some people aren't happy unless they have something to beotch about. I see that a lot with one of DH's sisters. Darn it, Mel, why did you go and mention the two FORBIDDEN words?!

Laura - Hope your meeting goes well and enjoy your work from home afternoon. I totally understand about not wanting to drive/park in downtown Chicago. Your bike ride sounds sooo nice, despite having to dodge pedestrians. I'm hoping my back will be good enough for a bike ride before it gets really cold.

I got here at 5:30, so I don't feel bad about taking a few minutes to post. But I'd better get back to work now.

Lots of love and hugs,

Well ladies....the garage door cost me $163.20. Not as bad as I thought it would. The guy was NO eye candy...sorry Mellie... Quite plump. Said he was born and raised in Canada and played ice hockey for 12 years, he must of went downhill awful fast after that. lol. He gave the the spring (as in garage door spring) special. The labor for the whole 15 minutes he was there was $99.00. WOW am I in the wrong business.

Chelle...glad Doppler is doing so well. Just wish you could be pain free for a change. Prayers!

Love and hugs,